Favstar.fm

We’re thinking about putting a little pro badge on user profiles if the person is a pro member.  What do you think?

Favstar’s been getting a lot of criticism recently for not sending notification tweets from @FavstarOfTheDay and other accounts.  This has been odd, as when I’ve checked, the notification tweets (@mentions) have been there. 

It turns out @Twitter for iPhone will sometimes not show a mention on their Connect -> Mentions tab.  This seems to happen when an older mention has been retweeted by another user, which takes the place of the mention that should be there.

These screenshots show @Favstar’s mentions.  First, a screenshot from Tweetbot for Mac.  Note the mentions from @BauDaLayla and @PaulShipper.

Now the screenshots from Twitter for iPhone.  Note that those two mentions don’t appear where they should here, but have been replaced.

And finally I checked in Tweetbot for iPhone, which does show the mentions correctly:

Twitter’s website at Twitter.com also showed these mentions correctly, when clicking on connections, then mentions.

If you rely on receiving your mentions reliably, I would recommend using a second app to check your mentions until Twitter for iPhone is fixed.

@mentions or @replies are tweets on twitter that mention you by name your @username.  Favstar uses these for various kinds of notifications.  One Favstar account that people love receiving mentions from is @FavstarOfTheDay.  It tells people when someone has awarded their tweet.  Understandably, people get upset when they’re not told.

I’m hearing from several people each day that they’re missing notifications from @FavstarOfTheDay.  However, when I check @FavstarOfTheDay’s tweets, the mentions that are reported as missing are there.  

It appears Twitter may be having problems delivering mentions to people’s mention timelines.  Not just from @FavstarOfTheDay, but from other users too.  I’ve spoken to someone at Twitter about this, and they would like you to contact support if you’re missing a tweet in your mentions timeline.  

After you’ve confirmed the tweet that mentions you does exist but wasn’t in your mentions timeline, please use this form to tell Twitter Support:

https://support.twitter.com/forms/general?subtopic=web_tweets 

So, you’ve decided to make the jump to Tweetbot. Good call! This is the most-used iOS Twitter app among Favstar staff.

Tweetbot goes great with Favstar. Tweetbot makes it easy to use Favstar from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

To view a user’s Favstar page from within Tweetbot, go to their profile, tap the gear icon, and select “View in Favstar.” 

Or you can just double-tap the profile icon on the bottom row of icons to open up the profile in Favstar.

It is also possible to view the Favstar page of an individual tweet. Tap on a tweet to open up the actions drawer, tap the gear icon, and select “View in Favstar.” 

You can also set Tweetbot’s triple tap command to open up a tweet in Favstar. Go to Settings, and enable “View in Favstar” in order to open a tweet in Favstar by quickly tapping on it three times.

When opening up a Favstar page, you will automatically be logged in with the account you are currently using in Tweetbot. This makes using Favstar with multiple accounts very easy.

Once on a Favstar page, each tweet has four options. Tapping the star icon will favorite the tweet. Tap the reply icon, and a reply to the user will be composed in Tweetbot. Once the reply is sent, the app will then return to the Favstar page.

The retweet icon will pop up a command box with two options. “Retweet to Followers” will send out a native Twitter retweet that is counted on Favstar. “Quote Tweet” will allow you to send a modifiable retweet, one that will not count on a user’s Favstar page, but will allow you to comment on the tweet.

For users with Bonus Features, it’s also possible to award a Tweet of the Day trophy with Tweetbot. The trophy button on a Favstar page will award a trophy to that tweet. A dialog box will ask to confirm if you want to give the trophy.

You can also award a Tweet of the Day trophy from within Tweetbot itself. Just hold down on the favorite button on a tweet in Tweetbot, and a dialog will pop up to “Award Tweet of the Day.”

All of these commands work in both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad versions of Tweetbot. This app comes highly recommended if you want to use Favstar while on the go.

Tweetbot for iPhone Download Link 

Tweetbot for iPad Download Link

Tweetbot for Mac (alpha) Download Link

Since the latest update of Twitter for iPhone, it doesn’t correctly sign you in to Favstar.

A change introduced in Twitter for iPhone 4.3 kicks you out to Safari on the iPhone, and logging in does not return to Favstar properly. This Twitter bug may get fixed in a future version, as it is affecting more than just Favstar. 
 

In the meantime, we recommend trying out Tweetbot for iPhone.

Tweetbot uses our API to ensure that Favstar pages work properly. Your currently-used account will be automatically logged in to Favstar when viewing a page. This works even when you’re using multiple accounts.

It’s possible to easily favorite, retweet, and award tweets of the day from within the app. For the avid Favstar user, it may just be the best choice. We’ll have a rundown of all the ways to use Favstar from within Tweetbot in the near future.

Hey there, Favstar users!

A question that we occasionally get is how to set your Twitter Profile URL to your Favstar page. It’s a very simple process, and can be done from either your computer or from mobile apps.

First, get your Favstar URL. This is http://favstar.fm/users/YOUR_USERNAME_HERE. For example, if your username is @FrannyWalsh, your Favstar URL is http://favstar.fm/users/FrannyWalsh. Note the lack of the @ sign in the URL.

Now, you need to add it to your Twitter settings. Log in to your Twitter account, and go to https://twitter.com/settings/profile and add your Favstar URL to the Website field. Then click Save Changes.

While this is easiest to do from the Twitter website on the desktop, some mobile apps support editing your Twitter profile while on the go.

In Twitter for iPhone and Android, tap on Me, View Your Profile, Edit Profile, and add your Favstar URL to the url section.

It’s also possible to do this from some third-party apps. In Tweetbot for iPhone, tap and hold down on one of the two rightmost buttons at the bottom, and select the icon that looks like a person’s head and shoulders. This is your profile page. Then tap Edit on the top right, and the ability to add the URL should be here. This is also possible on Tweetbot for iPad from the Profile button on the left sidebar.

Not all mobile apps support editing your Twitter profile, but if they do, the URL should appear in similar locations. Note that changes to your profile from third-party apps may not show up right away. These instructions should hopefully clear this up for a lot of you.

If there’s anything else we can help explain, please let us know.

Would you like to try Favstar Bonus Features?  Today you can get 1 month’s bonus features for $5.  It’s limited to 20 people.  :-)  Details here: http://bit.ly/zb997J

Update: Twitter wanted me to mention that Sitestreams is a beta product.

Favstar uses a technology from Twitter called Sitestreams to collect favorites and retweets.  When it’s working, it works very well, and favs and retweets for hundreds of thousands of users are delivered in real-time.

Unfortunately over the last 24 hours, Twitter had an interruption to their @sitestreams system that Favstar uses to collect favs and retweets.  For the worst 12 hours of it, no favs or retweets were collected via this system.  

Retweets for users with bonus features will be caught up.  Unfortunately Twitter does not provide an accesible way to catch up on bulk missed Favorites, and the method of collecting missed retweets is too resource intensive to be able to do it for everyone.

We hope that Twitter’s @sitestream product won’t suffer another outage this bad, and will shortly put a new process in place to prevent retweets from being missed in the future.

Thanks for your patience and understanding with Favstar over this difficult period.

@favstar

finerios:

If you hold the Favorite button in Tweetbot, you can assign it a Tweet of the Day award at Favstar, a great service for finding and sharing the best of Twitter, as well as checking who favorites and RTs your tweets.

(Source: finerios)

Update: This is an old post.  We now have a designer. :-)

Favstar.fm is looking for a designer to help with several mini-projects over the coming months.  We’re aiming to retain someone for 15 hours a month for 4 months, with a high chance of extension.

You’ll collaborate on concepts, work on the wireframes, produce high fidelity prototypes in photoshop, and cut the designs into html and css.  The projects will be small and discrete, with each one fitting into the time available for the month.

As well being able to create a nice looking visual design, you’ll have a good interaction design sense.  You’ll be able to iterate quickly, have good initiative and self management skills, and a knack for problem solving.  

Favstar’s website has both desktop and mobile web views, with most of the UI shared across both. You’ll understand the intricacies of designing for a touch-based mobile device, and will own an iPhone or Android phone.

We’re looking for reliability from someone who communicates well, and is used to working remotely over Skype and email.  You can be based anywhere, but must be able to work in the Pacific timezone daytime hours.

If you’re interested, please email jobs@favstar, and include:

• A short self-introduction and tell us how you heard about this job.
• A link to your portfolio or sites you’ve worked on - tell us your favorites and why you enjoyed working on them.
• Your twitter username
• Your hourly rate and when you’d be able to start
• It’s a bonus if you have illustration or Ruby on Rails skills, but not a requirement.